How Deep Is Your Relationship?

How deep is your relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it only surface deep, or does it go completely to your core, (heart deep)? Do you fully rely on God when you find yourself in troubled times? Or do you rely on yourself & your feelings? 


Psalm 63: 1-11

¹ You, God, are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
   my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
   where there is no water.

 ² I have seen you in the sanctuary
   and beheld your power and your glory.
³ Because your love is better than life,
   my lips will glorify you.
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
   and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
   with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

 ⁶ On my bed I remember you;
   I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help,
   I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

 ⁹ Those who seek my life will be destroyed;
   they will go down to the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will be given over to the sword
   and become food for jackals.

 ¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;
   all who swear by God will glory in him,
   while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Do we really cling to Him? Do we truly and honestly seek Him with our whole heart? (Proverbs 3:5) Just some things to think about.

(Wrote more about this HERE.)

Good Reminder.

A year ago, today, my Facebook status read: "Devotion Reflections: "Do I see my time with God as somthing on my checklist, or a pleasure? How can I use time with God to know Him better?" Power Verses -Psalm 82: 1,2, & 10 -Luke 10:39 & 42 Very good thoughts to meditate on today."


This is such a good reminder for myself, today, a year later!


Blessings!

I Can Only Imagine.

Have you ever read the book "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper? I finished reading it a couple weeks ago and I highly recommend it! He talks mostly about his death, being brought back to life, and his healing process through it all. But he also talks about his time in Heaven.  And how it is so much more than he could ever explain in human terms. He said the colors were 100% more vibrant than the colors we see on Earth. I shared a little in church this past Sunday how that I love admiring God's creation! I don't know if it's my photographic/artist eye, but every detail He has created truly amazes me. Right down to the small details on a butterfly's wing.  God is so awesome at what He does! He is the Master Artist! And it made me think about how He has created all of this for us to enjoy. It made me think about that book, as we sang "I Can Only Imagine". I can only imagine what Heaven will be like, but did you know He have us a little taste of it when He created the Heavens and the Earth! He has given us a small taste of what colors are. Of what sunshine looks like. How beautiful are the trees and the mountains and the oceans. How beautiful is all of His creation! And yet is is only a small taste of what Heaven will be like. I can only imagine.

That said, I going to change the subject a bit. There is one part from this book that I really wanted to share with you b/c it spoke to my heart personally. It is from Chapter 14, "The New Normal".  He says, "Some things happen to us from which we never recover, and they disrupt the normalcy of our lives. That's how life is. Human nature has a tendency to ry to reconstruct old ways and pick up where we left off. If we're wise, we won't continue to go back to the way things were (we can't anyway). We must instead forget the old standard and accept a 'new normal'. I wasted a lot of time thinking about how I used to be healthy and had no physical limitations. In my mind, I'd reconstruct how life ought to be, but in reality, I knew my life would never be the same. I had to adjust and accept my physical limits as part of my new normal."

Isn't that how we humans are? Something comes along and completely rearranges our little "perfect" world. We try so hard to "go back" to our old lives that we waste endless amounts of time that we could have been spending to move forward instead of backwards. We can't go back. But we can go forward. Sometimes I find myself fretting over "what used to be". I worry about what ppl think and what they say. Sometimes I worry myself sick over stuff. I always like to say "Why worry when you can pray?" And yet find myself being a worry-wart! Wasting my time on things that are beyond my control.  God wants us to move on with our lives and accept what is our new normal. And sometimes I just have to be reminded to let go & let God so that I can move forward with my life and accept my new normal.

I really enjoyed this book! I will admit, there are a few gruesome details about some of this guy's injuries and healing that I had to skip. (My mind and stomach can't handle stuff like that.) But over all, I was blessed in reading it and would highly recommend it to anyone!

Hope you enjoyed today's post. Blessing to you as our week ends.

Only A Moment.

It only takes one little moment to allow sin to creep in. And in that little moment, life is impacted in a big way.

Only a moment of anger.
Only a moment of lust.
Only a moment of jealousy.
Only a moment of pride.
Only a moment of hate.
Only a moment of lies.
Only a moment of dishonesty.
Only a moment of sin.
That's all it takes to make a difference in one's life. Whether it's yours, or someone elses.

I'd like to share part of a devotion from Lysa TerKeurst today.

“Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.” Genesis 37:17b-18 (NIV)

"Today, there will be a moment. No one will snap a picture of it. It probably won’t make it into the journals of those who journal. Or linger in the thoughts we carry with us to sleep tonight.

It will come.

It will go.

It will slip by seemingly unnoticed. But its affects won’t slip. (God doesn't miss a thing.) They’ll stay. And if fostered, grow to epic proportions.

This moment where something creeps into our heart and pulls our focus from right to wrong. It will be just a hint of distortion. The smallest amount. But a slight and seemingly insignificant amount of skewed thought will take root.

And grow.

Beyond what you can even imagine.

The course of history was changed because a few family members got a little cranky and a little jealous of their brother Joseph. Envy and anger slipped in. Just a hint. But just enough. It doesn't take much.   

Because a few brothers on an ordinary day got a little jealous and allowed anger and envy to slip in.

And the moment it slipped in, the course of history changed.

In a moment.

May we never assume our moments don’t matter. The decisions we make every second of every day matter.

There are no little moments or little sins.

There is a domino affect to it all.

So, I fall hard upon soft grace. I thank God for this realization. I ask Him to make my soul even more sensitive, more aware, more in tune to my constant need for forgiveness.

Though I am weak, I walk in the strength of utter dependence.

And I refuse to beat myself up for mistakes made yesterday. Today is a new day. A new chance to set things going in a different direction.

Joseph’s brothers had years to try and rescue Joseph — find out where he was — help him — set their past mistakes right.

Years. They had years. But they never did set about to turn things around.

Oh sweet sister don’t let today slip by.

Moments matter.

Watch for a moment today where you are given the choice to let anger, envy or something else negative slip in. Recognize it. Refute it. And replace it with God’s spirit of love.

Dear Lord, You made me. You know me. I need Your help where I am weak. Make me aware of any place where I’m off course today. Give me the desire to do what pleases You. I want to do your will. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."

Continuation of Christ's Mockery & Death.

You may read the continuation of this segment at these links below.

The Betrayal (Continued)

The Crucification (Continued from The Betrayal)

The Betrayal

I shared this story on my main blog, but thought I would share it here also, in preparation of Easter. Blessings!

The room grew quite as He broke the bread and began to pray, thanking His Heavenly Father for the food and praying for strength for the great trial He was getting ready to face. He than began to speak to His disciples saying, "Take this bread and eat, it represents my body." Then he took a cup and gave thanks and said, "Take this and drink, it represents my blood of the covenant which will be poured out for the forgiveness of many sins."

Then He said, "One of you will betray me this night."

"Surely it is not me, Lord! Who is it?" the disciples asked.

"It is he who dips his bread with me."

Soon, Satan entered Judas after he dipped his bread with the Master. He got up and left the room.

As they finished their supper and Jesus spoke to his disciples, trying to prepare them for what lied ahead. Peter said, "Lord, even if all fall away from you, I never will!"

"Peter, you will deny Me three times this night before the cock crows!"

"Not I Lord! Never will I deny Thee." And all the others said the same.

By this time they had finished their meal and Jesus took His disciples for a walk up to Gethsemane to pray. The night was warm and the disciples were tired. When they got there, Jesus instructed them to sit while He went a little farther, taking Peter and 2 others with Him. Then He asked Peter to please keep watch while He prayed. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38) Going a little farther still, He fell upon His face and prayed, "Father let this cup pass from Me! Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done." Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you not stay awake to keep watch with Me? Please help me pray! Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak." Again, He went away to pray and again returned to find them asleep. For their eyes were very heavy. So He left them a third time, not bothering to wake this time, and began to pray for a third time. When He came back, Jesus told them to to wake up, "My hour of death is come. Rise up! For I am to be delivered unto sinners. Here comes my betrayer now!"

And Judas came up to Him and kissed Him on the cheek. How sad to betray the Son of Man with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver. And soon after, the soldiers, who had followed Judas there, seized Jesus and arrested Him.

***To be continued***
For references, look at Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, & John 13

*Something to think about: Judas was willing to betray Christ for a kiss and 30 pieces of silver. Chirst said it would have been better for Judas to never have been born. "Whoa be unto him who betrays Me!" What are some things that people are willing to betray Him for today?

Jesus Christ is Lord!

I've done a lot of reading in the book of Acts this morning and the message that stood out to me the most was "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved!"  Acts 2:38 says, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Verse 40 says, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation!"

That day Peter was preaching the words of Christ, urging others to be saved from their sins. Those who believe that day alone were about 3,000 in all!  (verse 41)

Back up in verse 36 it says that we are to let EVERYONE know for certain that God has made this Jesus, the one we crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah! Even further back in Acts 1:8 "...And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere....even to the ends of the earth."

So go tell it!  Whether on the mountain top, over the hills, across the seas, next door, in the park or work place, to your family & friends....EVERYWHERE...that Jesus Christ is Lord and He alone can save your soul from your sins!!!!

If you, yourself, do not believe already, I urge you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you too shall be saved from your sins! First you must repent and tell God you are sorry, then ask Him into your heart and to create in you a new one.  A clean heart. Psalms 51:10 says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."  By doing so your old self and sins will be erased and God will create a new, clean heart within you.  (Acts 3:19) Beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you too, shall be saved!